Category: Weekend

The largest and final sales quarter of 2011 is almost upon us and the list of planned album releases is mostly revealed (except for a few possible last minute surprises). The above graph is intended to help readers quickly grasp how album sales are trending. Last week for example (week ended 9-18-11), country hit its […]

This week at the Convention Center, it’s round-the-clock picking and singing at the IBMA World of Bluegrass confab. Among the week’s highlights are the presentation of the IBMA Awards at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday evening. The discs in this week’s column all belong to nominees. […]

NPD’s latest research reports one in four U.S. Internet users now use iTunes—almost 51 million people—and an increase of 3% since last year. Music remains the primary activity of iTunes users, although app downloads is also seeing growth. 54% of iTunes users downloaded or listened to music this year and 28% downloaded a free app […]

Lady Antebellum comes roaring out of the physical and digital bins this week to dominate the Nielsen SoundScan sales sphere. The trio’s newest, Own The Night, racked up over 347,000 units (25% digital) giving it the No. 1 position on both the country albums and Top 200 albums charts. The new collection’s performance weighs […]

Live Nation Entertainment and Universal Music Group announced this week that they are forming a strategic partnership of both companies’ management assets. UMG, along with Live Nation’s Front Line Management Group, will introduce a joint venture management company with the aim of building artistic brands through sponsorships, strategic marketing, and more. Each unit will operate […]

Album Releases

September 13Brett Young/The Acoustic Sessions [EP]/BMLG RecordsThe Lumineers
/III/DualtoneVarious/Country Music – A Film By Ken Burns (The Soundtrack) [2CD, 2LP and digital configurations]/LegacyGeorge Strait/Strait Out of the Box: Part 1 [Walmart re-issue]/MCA Records NashvilleHailey Whitters/The Days